Handball: ÖHB men lose at European Championship dress rehearsal

Handball

Austria’s handball players suffered a defeat in the last test before the European Championship finals in Germany. In the 30:37 (16:16) against Iceland on Monday evening in Linz, Ales Pajovic’s team’s performance was good for a long time, and it was only in the last quarter of an hour that the sixth-placed team in the 2022 European Championships took the lead. For Austria, the European Championship starts on Friday (6 p.m., live on ORF1), when the game against Romania starts.

08.01.2024 20.34

Online since yesterday, 8:34 p.m

“I’m happy with the game. We played against Iceland, they can be in the top five in the world. In the end we ran out of strength, that’s a problem in our (squad, note) width,” said Pajovic in an ORF interview shortly after the final whistle. The Slovenian was confident about the start of the European Championship: “If we go into the game against Romania like this, we will get the two points. That is the goal.”

The strong Lukas Hutecek was also happy with the game. “It was actually a very good game for us. The result is a little clearer than the game was. Basically a good performance, also in terms of combat. It was intense and not easy for us. But even after 45 minutes we have to be cooler and not lose so many balls. I am convinced that we will show that we can deliver 60 minutes,” said the Germany legionnaire, who was the best ÖHB player with ten goals.

Handball players lose again against Iceland

With one last test, Austria’s handball players have completed their preparation for the European Championships in Germany. The ÖHB team lost against Iceland 30:37 after suffering a 28:33 defeat on Saturday.

ÖHB increase after initial phase

Two days after the 28:33 defeat in the first test against Iceland in Schwechat, the northerners once again got off to a better start. Austria had problems in the opening minutes due to technical errors, but got better and better into the game. Constantin Möstl started in goal, the hard goalie will form the goalkeeper duo in Germany together with Ralf Patrick Häusle. The two were given preference over Thomas Eichberger, as the ÖHB announced before the game.

Hutecek finally rewarded the improvement and the better defense work compared to Saturday with the equalizer to 11:11 (22nd), after which the game continued at eye level. In the final seconds of the first half, the Icelanders equalized to make the score 16:16 at halftime. Circular player Tobias Wagner was pleased, but announced for the second half: “We will try more, it is still a preparation game.”

Iceland got off to a better start again, pulling ahead by three goals. Häusle was now also used in the Austrian goal. Mykola Bilyk and Co. initially managed to equalize again, but Moritz Mittendorfer then had to leave the field with a red card. The Icelanders then exploited the red-white-red’s weaknesses more efficiently, and the guests had a much better handle on the attacking play of the Austrians, who no longer seemed completely fresh. The result was clear.